2017 WNBA Playoffs

The 2017 WNBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the WNBA's 2017 season.

2017 WNBA Playoffs

Dates	September 6 - October 4
Champions	Minnesota Lynx (Finals champion)
Higher seed finalist	Minnesota Lynx (Coach: Cheryl Reeve)
Lower seed finalist	Los Angeles Sparks (Coach: Brian Agler)
← 2016 2018 →

Standings
Eastern Conference	Western Conference
3rd New York Liberty	1st Minnesota Lynx
4th Connecticut Sun	2nd Los Angeles Sparks
6th Washington Mystics	5th Phoenix Mercury
	7th Dallas Wings
	8th Seattle Storm

Format

Following the WNBA regular season, eight teams in the entire league qualified for the playoffs and were seeded one to eight. Regular season records determined the seedings of the teams. The team with the best record received seed one, the team with the next best record received seed two, and so on. The top two seeds get double byes, while the next two seeds get first-round byes.

These seedings were used to create a bracket that determines the match-ups throughout the playoffs. The first round of the playoffs consisted of two match-ups based on the seedings (5-8 and 6-7). The two winners advanced to the second round with a match-up between the number 3 seed and the lower of the advancing seeds and another match-up between the number 4 seed and the other first round winner. The winners of the first two rounds advanced to the semifinals, where the lower ranked seed of the winners faced the number 1 seed, while the other remaining team faced the number 2 seed.

The first two rounds are single elimination games played on the higher ranking seed's home court. The semifinals and WNBA Finals are best-of-five series played in a 2-2-1 format, meaning the team with home-court advantage (better record) hosts games 1, 2, and 5 while their opponent hosts games 3 and 4.

Tiebreak procedures

1. Better winning percentage among all head-to-head games involving tied teams.
2. Better winning percentage against teams within conference (for Finals only: better record against teams in # the opposite conference).
3. Better winning percentage against all teams with a .500 or better record at the end of the season.
4. Better point differential in games involving tied teams.
5. Coin toss (or draw of lots, if at least 3 teams are still tied after the first 4 tiebreakers fail).

Playoff qualifying

Seed	Team	Record	Clinched
			Playoff berth	Bye to Semis	Top Record
1	Minnesota Lynx	27–7
2	Los Angeles Sparks	26–8
3	New York Liberty	22–12
4	Connecticut Sun	21–13
5	Phoenix Mercury	18–16
6	Washington Mystics	18–16
7	Dallas Wings	16–18
8	Seattle Storm	15–19

Playoffs and Finals

Bracket

	First round: Single elimination (Sept. 6)				Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 10)				Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 12 – Sept. 17)				WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 24 – Oct. 4)
									2 Los Angeles Sparks	3
									5 Phoenix Mercury	0
					4 Connecticut Sun	83
					5 Phoenix Mercury	88
	5 Phoenix Mercury	79
	8 Seattle Storm	69
													1 Minnesota Lynx	3
													2 Los Angeles Sparks	2
	6 Washington Mystics	86
	7 Dallas Wings	76
					3 New York Liberty	68
					6 Washington Mystics	82
									1 Minnesota Lynx	3
									6 Washington Mystics	0

Note: Teams re-seeded after second round and semi-finals.

Semifinals

Team	1	2	3
1 Minnesota Lynx	101	93	81
6 Washington Mystics	81	83	70

Team	1	2	3
2 Los Angeles Sparks	79	86	89
5 Phoenix Mercury	66	72	87

WNBA Finals

Team	1	2	3	4	5
1 Minnesota Lynx	84	70	64	80	85
2 Los Angeles Sparks	85	68	75	69	76